In this video, I check out the Dasaita CP007 CarPlay AI Box Adapter.
You can buy this AI Box for $265.98 from Amazon US 👉🏻 https://amzn.to/3RCnhFV, €269.98 from Amazon DE 👉🏻https://amzn.to/3rJfHyJ and you can buy it directly from Dasaita for $279 👉🏻
This Dasaita CP007 is an Android AI Box for factory Apple CarPlay and aftermarket systems. It features 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM, a Qualcomm 450 CPU and an Adreno 506 GPU. There is an SD card slot for expandable storage, and a SIM card slot to provide internal internet to the dongle without the need to connect to a mobile hotspot or local Wi-Fi. And finally, there is a mini-HDMI port to pass video through to an external display, such as an HDMI display in the back seat of your car.
In the box you get the AI Box itself, there’s a USB-A to USB-C cable to power the AI Box and USB-A to C adapter for more modern CarPlay ports in the car.
Design & Features
Looking over the AI Box. It has a rather basic-looking black box case design, with all of its slots and IO ports located on one side of the adapter. These connections are clearly labelled underneath the AI Box, and on the top, there is some Dasaita logo branding which lights up whilst it’s powered, and there are two status lights on the opposite edge of the box.
I connected the AI Box to the Pioneer 93DAB receiver in my demo pod. Bootup time took 35 seconds to get into the main menu. The launcher menu in this Dasaita AI Box is similar to some older interfaces, with a floating menu button and a side dock that features the time, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth status, the last 3 running apps, and the back and home buttons have been swapped over.
Apps
The CP007 comes with the usual suit of pre-installed apps, including Google Maps, Chrome and the Play Store, YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix. Like all AI Boxes, the adapter is pretty basic without an internet connection, so I connected the adapter to my local Wi-Fi hotspot and downloaded a few apps from the Google Play store. If you plan to use both wireless CarPlay or Android Auto alongside running Android OS apps, I still recommend that you insert a SIM card into the AI Box so you don’t have to disconnect your mobile connection to use the Wi-Fi for Android OS Apps.
Downloading the Device Info app, I was able to get an overview of what’s inside this AI Box. The Qualcomm 450 8-Core CPU runs at up to 1.8GHz, and the Adreno 506 GPU runs at 133MHz. There’s 49GB remaining from the total 64GB of storage, with the pre-installed apps and operating system installed. This is plenty for the types of apps you might want to run in the car, and you can expand on this if you wish with an inserted SD card up to 128GB.
Specs & Performance
With these specs, the Dasaita CP007 is pretty much near identical to the ApplePie Mini and the early CarlinKit Tbox. Downloading Geekbench I roughly got the same results as all the other AI Boxes with a Qualcomm 450 chip inside them. So its performance should mirror these AI Boxes, so I fired up some of its pre-installed apps…
Google Maps and Spotify seem to fire up and work just fine, and you can also split-screen apps just like the rest of them. Oddly I managed to get Netflix in split-screen mode, which I hadn’t been able to do on other AI Boxes. This might be due to the build version that’s pre-installed.
Running Youtube and Netflix on your CarPlay display has its advantages, such as watching videos whilst waiting for your EV to charge, or if you’re waiting for long periods of time in your car. Youtube and Netflix ran just fine though, with playback audio in sync with the video on screen.
Gaming & Controller Support
The Adreno 560 GPU is not too bad at some lightweight gaming. It handled my test apps Crossy Road, Subway Surfer and Rayman just fine. With dual Bluetooth in this AI Box I connected up an Xbox Bluetooth controller and could control the menu UI and some games that support controllers.
You can also use a wireless Bluetooth remote with this AI Box, to navigate from a distance from your screen, and this comes into its own when you connect a remote screen to the HDMI port on the AI Box. I was able to connect and display content on my external camera monitor, but I wasn’t as successful in connecting to my Samsung TV or Ultrawide monitor as I have done on some other HDMI AI Boxes.
Wireless CarPlay & Android Auto
For wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, this AI Box uses the SpeedPlay Android app. Its settings are rather simple and basic than some other wireless apps, but it works well, with bootup into wireless Apple Carplay taking around 18 seconds, and 20 seconds for wireless Android Auto.
Both platforms ran well with 1-2 second audio lag on Android and around 2-3 seconds on CarPlay audio. Audio lag and navigation were as responsive as any other AI Boxes with the same spec and generally, it was a solid experience overall. Receiving calls whilst connected to either platform will launch their phone app to accept calls, and with just Bluetooth connected you can playback music and take calls in the Android OS Bluetooth app for music and calling.
My Impressions
This CP007 AI Box from Dasaita currently retails for $265 with coupon from Amazon US and €265 from Amazon DE. You can also buy it from them directly from the Dasaita store for $279.
My time with the CP007 mirrors the other similarly spec’d AI Boxes I have tried. The addition of the HDMI port on this CP007 allows for some additional use cases than the other AI Boxes that have the same chipset, like the Apple Pie Mini or CarlinKit Tbox. So if video streaming, light app use, and HDMI are important to you, then the CP007 is not a bad mid-level AI Box.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:44 – Unboxing
0:55 – Design & Features
1:18 – Boot-up & Main Menu UI
2:06 – Specs & Performance
3:21 – Apps
4:00 – Gaming
4:13 – BT Controller and Remote
4:33 – HDMI display
4:49 – Wireless CarPlay & Android Auto
5:38 – My Impressions
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